The Pacific Division race is over. The San Jose
Sharks dispatched the Los Angeles Kings in a white-washing at HP Pavilion on
Monday night, wrapping up the division title with a resounding 6-1 win. San
Jose received scoring from six different players and Antti Niemi cruised to his
34th win of the season. The Sharks continue to carve through their division
opponents, winning their 4th straight over a Pacific Division foe.

The
division title means that San Jose will start the playoff as no worse than the
3rd seed. The Sharks jumped past the Detroit Red Wings into the number two spot
in the Western Conference standings. Both teams have three games remaining.

Monday night's contest was all Sharks from the opening faceoff.

Joe Pavelski wasted little time getting the Sharks on the board,
converting 1:47 into the game. The Sharks centerman positioned himself in the
slot, taking a Torrey Mitchell feed from the right wing boards while back
skating. Pavelski pivoted toward the Kings net and snapped a shot low to the
stick side for his 19th goal of the season.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored
just his 4th goal of the season on a pretty cross-ice feed from Kyle Wellwood
at 8:26. The Sharks setup the goal by controlling the tempo in the Kings zone.
Pavelski set the table by making a feed to Wellwood as the Sharks cycled in the
zone.

The Kings looked as if they would get back into the game early
into the 2nd period, when Michal Handzus tapped in a rebound just 1:57 in. Matt
Greene pumped a shot on Antti Niemi from the left wing that the Sharks
netminder couldn't control. Handzus was in the right place at the right time to
easily deposit the deflection.

The notion of a Kings comeback would
quickly be extinguished.

Wellwood tipped home a Vlasic blast 22
seconds later to put the Sharks back up by two goals. Vlasic was originally
credited with the goal, but the official scorekeeper ruled that Wellwood got a
stick on the shot that deflected past Quick.

Dan Boyle made it 4-1
three minutes later, rifling a shot from 30 feet out after taking a lead pass
from Thornton at the blueline then driving up the gut. The defenseman put a
single move on Willie Mitchell before snapping home a shot from just inside the
right circle.

Quick would get the hook after Boyle's goal. Kings head
coach Terry Murray would insert Jonathan Bernier in his place, which turned out
to be as ineffective. Bernier surrendered Joe Thornton's 20th goal of the
season on a deflection from the right side of the net at 9:20. Patrick Marleau
jammed a shot on net from in tight, bouncing the shot to Thornton for the
immediate put-back.

Devin Setoguchi made it a 6-1 game with 27 seconds
left in the period, by snapping a shot past Bernier from the slot. The Sharks
forward took a feed from Marleau at the Kings blueline, then carried the puck
into the zone and crossed up Bernier with a toe-drag before snapping home his
22nd goal of the season.

San Jose was content to run as much clock as
they could in the 3rd period, not applying much pressure to Bernier. Even so,
they would hold an advantage in shots in the period until the Kings decided to
get chippy. Kyle Clifford took exception to a hit by Douglas Murray, so he went
after the Sharks defenseman. Brad Richardson felt Clifford needed a little
assistance, so he also decided to get in on the action.

Dan Boyle came to Murray's aid and locked horns with
Richardson. Boyle would earn a roughing minor and unsportsmanlike conduct
minors, the latter coming from engaging in a fight with a visor on. Neither
call made sense given that two Kings were attempting to fight with a single
Sharks player.

It made no difference other than to bolster the Sharks
penalty killing stats, as the Kings failed to convert on the abridged double
minor.

The fight would give Boyle the Gordie Howe hat-trick.

The one negative on the evening was an injury sustained by Ryane Clowe who
skated three shifts before heading to the locker room. McLellan reported that
Clowe suffered a lower body injury, but in fine NHL fashion would surrender any
more information on the subject.

SHARE THIS STORY:

What did you think of
this article? Post your comments on the Feeder Forums

What did you
think of this story? Post your comments on the Feeder Forums